The City PI and the Country Cop (20 page)

“Or I’ll pick you up in the morning,” Keir
responded with a leer before heading out the door.

“Kids,” Teague muttered.

* * * *

Hoyt nodded in agreement, even as he studied
Teague.
It won’t happen. But it would be nice if he stayed the
night.

All through dinner, even though he’d joined
in the conversation, the thought at the top of his mind was how
could
he and Teague make things work?
Even if Teague does
as he sort of suggested, buying a plane and learning to fly, he’ll
get real tired, real fast, of flying out here every weekend. And I
can’t afford to go see him more than maybe once a month, if
that.

Hoyt sighed, shaking his head when Teague
asked what was wrong. “Nothing we can do anything about.”

Teague put his arm around Hoyt’s waist,
leading him to the sofa and sitting. “We can, if we want to.”

Hoyt sat as well, asking, “How? Damn it,
Teague. How?”

Pulling Hoyt against his chest, Teague
replied, “That’s what we have to figure out. For all our talk of
commuting, I know that’s going to be difficult. It could end what
we seem to have going very fast, because we’ll both get tired of it
and start coming up with excuses why we can’t see each other on
such and such a weekend. Holidays, vacations, sure. They’re doable
because it won’t be just one day together.”

“What
do
we have going?” Hoyt asked.
He knew how he felt. He was more than just interested in Teague,
despite the fact they had actually spent very little time together.
If he was going to put a word to it, he was halfway in love with
the man, much against his better judgment.
When did that happen?
While we were apart, when all I could think about was how much I
missed him? Last night, during our walk? When he took care of me
the morning before he left town?
“Is it real?” he said, barely
above a whisper.

“I think it is,” Teague replied. “We…Well,
I’ve been fighting it. For practical reasons.” He grimaced. “I keep
forgetting there’s more to caring for someone than that. It’s
what’s in here that counts.” He pressed his hand to Hoyt’s
chest.

Covering Teague’s hand with his own, Hoyt
replied, “I want you in my life, as cliché as that sounds. If that
means we only see each other on holidays or when one of us takes a
vacation, I guess I can deal with that.”

“Don’t like my idea of getting my license and
flying out here every weekend?” Teague asked with a small grin.

“Like you said, you could get tired of that
real fast. Besides, it’s not fair to you, putting the burden on
your shoulders. But to be honest, there’s no way I can afford to
fly out to see you every other weekend.” Hoyt smiled wryly. “Maybe
I could learn to like city living. That would solve one
problem.”

“Only one?” Teague asked, turning his hand to
weave his fingers with Hoyt’s.

“We still don’t know how real this is. This
feeling between us.”

Teague nodded. “We know what we feel now. The
question is, will it last? A month from now will we still feel the
same?”

“It’s been two months and counting, and I
haven’t lost any of my desire for you.” Hoyt smiled, holding up his
finger. “Let me amend that. I haven’t lost my desire to be with
you.”

Chuckling, Teague replied, “So you desire my
presence, but not my body?”

“Now, I wouldn’t say that. I rather like your
body. What I’ve seen of it. Which, by the way, is a damn sight less
than you’ve seen of mine.”

“Well, I’m not getting shot to remedy that
problem.”

Hoyt laughed. “I wasn’t suggesting you go
that far. Come summer however, we can go swimming…” He paused,
waiting to see what Teague’s reply to that might be. He was
rewarded by Teague’s suggesting they could do that “Right now, at
the motel. They have an indoor pool, and a workout room.”

Hoyt grimaced. “Not to sound conceited, but
I’ll pass until the scars are gone.”

“Bad?”

“Yeah, but getting better. Carolyn has me
using a silicone gel and it seems to be working. If I was
younger…Hell, I’d get a tat to cover them.”

“You still could,” Teague told him. “Let’s
see. Hmm. My name embellished with—”

“Don’t even go there,” Hoyt interjected,
chortling. “Don’t you know the stupidest tats are the ones
involving the names of people’s SOs. And we’re not even close to
being that yet.”

“Working on it though. Slow but sure.
Right?”

Hoyt smiled slowly. “Right.”

“And the next step is…” Teague squeezed
Hoyt’s hand. “Can you get the rest of the week off?”

“Given that I’m on desk duty, and that means
paperwork, watching monitors, moving prisoners…” Hoyt shuddered. “I
hate it. Okay, maybe hate’s too strong a word, but I can’t wait
until I get medical clearance to be back in the field again.”

“How soon will that come?”

“According to Carolyn, my shoulder’s about as
mobile as it’s going to be and she doesn’t see any reason why I
can’t return to active duty by the end of the month.”

“So you could get a few days off before that
happens?”

“Probably. Why?”

“I was thinking…Come back with us tomorrow.
Spend some time seeing how the other half lives.”

“The country mouse visiting the city
mouse?”

“Good Lord, have you been reading my mind? I
thought that same thing the evening I brought you home from the
hospital.”

“Guess we’re more in sync than I thought, and
it does sort of fit. If I remember correctly, the country mouse was
frightened by a cat and a car and decided he’d just a soon return
home to what he knew.”

“It doesn’t have to happen that way.” Teague
cupped Hoyt’s jaw, looking seriously at him as he asked, “Would you
at least give it a try?”

“Of course!” Hoyt replied, not dropping his
gaze from Teague’s. “Hell, I told you I’ve been in a big city a
time or two in my life. When I was in college, and then the police
convention. It’s not like I’ve never stepped foot outside of
Faircrest.”

“Then call the chief and get his okay, if
that’s what it takes. If he gives it, I’ll call the airline to get
you booked onto the same flight that Keir and I are on.”

It wasn’t hard for Hoyt to convince Chief
Davis to give him the time off when he told him why. After hanging
up, he muttered, “I swear the chief has the same matchmaker gene
Keir does.”

Laughing, Teague called the airline. “We’re
in luck,” he said while he was on hold, “She says there’s two seats
left so it’s a go. She’s checking return flights for Sunday.
Hopefully in the afternoon.”

Hoyt took out his wallet, handing Teague his
credit card. When Teague seemed to hesitate, Hoyt said tightly,
“You are
not
paying for
my
flight. End of story.”

“Independent cuss, aren’t you,” Teague
replied with a half-smile before getting back to the reservations
clerk.

“Always have been, always will be,” Hoyt
retorted with a grin, although mentally he recoiled a little when
Teague confirmed the cost of the flight.

After handing back Hoyt’s card, Teague said,
“Now what?”

For a second Hoyt was afraid his dismay at
paying for his ticket had shown on his face. But one look at
Teague’s expectant smile let him know that wasn’t what he was
asking. “I don’t know, Brain, what do you want to do?”

“It’s really—” Teague grinned wickedly,
“—what are we going to do tonight?’ to which I, as the Brain would
respond, ‘The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over
the world’.”

“Not sure I want to be boss of the
world.”

“Even your own world?”

“Now that’s a different thing altogether.
Even then however, I’d rather share ruling it.”

Teague cocked his head. “With anyone
specific?”

“Possibly. That’s yet to be decided. And it
has to be a mutual decision.”

“I think we’d make a great pair of rulers, to
go with the analogy, of our combined worlds.” Teague brushed the
pad of his thumb over Hoyt’s lips, which instantly caused a shiver
of anticipation to course through Hoyt. It was rewarded when Teague
kissed him.

Hoyt returned the kiss with fierce need. When
it ended, much too soon in his considered opinion, he got to his
feet, holding out his hand to Teague. “I don’t care if I’m jumping
ten steps ahead of our…plan. I want you. I need you. We’re both
adults. I think we can…we can…” He stopped dead at the look of
shock on Teague’s face. Turning away, Hoyt crossed to the
fireplace, pressing his hands against the mantelpiece as he stared
down at the floor.
I blew it. Damn it all to hell, I really
blew…everything.

* * * *

Teague jumped up, quickly going over to wrap
his arms around Hoyt, pressing his body against Hoyt’s back. “Whoa.
What’s going on?” He kissed the nape of Hoyt’s neck. “I didn’t say
no,” he said softly.

“Maybe not in so many words, but I knew you
would from your expression,” Hoyt replied, barely above a
whisper.

“And you’re supposed to be able to read
people.” Teague moved back, his hands on Hoyt’s shoulders, urging
him to turn and look at him. When Hoyt did, with obvious
reluctance, Teague murmured, “I was just surprised.” He kissed Hoyt
gently. “Your words echoed my thoughts.”

“Truthfully?”

“Yes.” Teague brushed another kiss over
Hoyt’s lips. “I want you in ways I’ve never wanted anyone else.
Ever. The only thing that held me back was—” he shook his head in
rueful consternation. “We keep dancing around our mutual
attraction, you know. We start to admit how we feel then back away
because of the situation. We
do
care for each other. Perhaps
even love each other. If we didn’t, would we be worried about how
we can be with each other despite the distance that separates us?
Wouldn’t we have just jumped into bed, because the physical
attraction is there, and screwed each other into oblivion? And
then, when I had to go home, forgotten about each other except to
remember a fun night in bed with a nice man, no strings
attached?”

“That was quite a speech,” Hoyt said huskily.
“You’re right though. Underneath all the ‘how can we make it work’
there must be at least the beginnings of love. Still…” He frowned.
“I was wrong to even suggest we head upstairs to bed.”

“Pardon my French, but bullshit. We’re here.
Alone.” Teague grinned. “Maybe we need Keir to give us a shove in
the right direction but he’s
not
here—”

“Thank God,” Hoyt muttered.

“I’ll second that.” Teague took Hoyt’s hand.
“So I guess it’s up to me to drag you up to your lair.”

“I don’t think you’ll have a problem with
that. I’m not about to resist the overtures of a handsome man who
apparently wants my body as much as I want his.”

“Then, my dear detective, let’s get up there
before I ravage you on the spot.”

* * * *

“This is definitely impressive,” Teague said,
running one finger over the scar on Hoyt’s shoulder. “A badge of
courage, although a fading one now.”

“I’ll be glad when it’s gone. Too many
memories attached to it. Although…” Hoyt paused what he was doing.
“I guess if it hadn’t have been for Irwin we’d never have met, so I
suppose him shooting me has an upside.”

“If it hadn’t been for you we’d never have
stopped him, but we are not going to rehash all of that. I have
other things we should be talking about. Like why it’s taking you
so damned long to unbutton my shirt?”

“Because you’re distracting me? Who knew
you’d be such a chatterbox at a time like this?” Hoyt finally
managed to remove Teague’s shirt. He stepped back, racking his gaze
over Teague’s chest. “When do you find time to work out?” Hoyt
asked, tracing the well-defined lines of muscle.

“I don’t. Though I swim, when I can.”

“It shows.”

“You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of when it
comes to being muscular. But I knew that already. What I haven’t
seen…” Teague reached for the closure on Hoyt’s jeans, popping open
the button then lowering the zipper before easing them off Hoyt’s
hips. As they puddled at Hoyt’s feet, Teague made quick work of
pushing the boxers down as well, letting out a whistle of
admiration when Hoyt’s hard cock was finally revealed. “Very nice.
Impressive even.”

“Damn. It’s just a dick,” Hoyt muttered as he
kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his fallen clothes. “Now I
need to see yours.”

Teague, being reasonably wise to the ways of
undressing, sat down on the edge of the bed to take off his shoes.
As soon as he had, he found himself flat on his back while Hoyt
took care of getting Teague totally naked.

“Not too bad for a middle-aged man,” Hoyt
commented, stroking his hand up Teague’s rampant cock.

“Says the guy who’s only three years younger
than me,” Teague managed to get out after a long moan, wanting
more. Instead he got Hoyt sprawled over him. Their lips fused in a
heated kiss while Teague caressed every inch of Hoyt that he could
touch.

Without breaking the kiss, Hoyt opened the
nightstand drawer. Teague heard rustling, a groan of distress, and
prayed Hoyt would find what he was searching for.
Otherwise
we’re going to be two extremely frustrated men.

“Bingo,” Hoyt said, breaking the kiss to
triumphantly hold up a condom and a small tube of lube.

“Only one?” Teague asked, eyeing the
condom.

“All we need, unless you suddenly sprout a
second dick.” Sitting back on his heels, blatantly ignoring
Teague’s raised finger, Hoyt sheathed him.

“What happened to foreplay?”

Leaning down on his elbows, Hoyt planted
another kiss on Teague’s lips. “You’re horny as hell. I’m horny as
hell. If we muck around first we won’t get down to the
nitty-gritty—you fucking me into oblivion, to quote you.”

Teague was surprised, happily so, to find out
that despite Hoyt’s often bossy ways, the man was obviously a
bottom. “And a very nice bottom,” he said, running his hands over
Hoyt’s ass in appreciation.